Jace, Harry and the Philosopher's Sorcerer's Stone
by Anonymous Miki
Summary: Harry Potter met his female twin sister, Jace Potter. A lot of things happen. Long story short: Oh just read the story and find out.
1. Starting The Chain Reaction

**Prologue**

As it became dark yet another argument started in the home the Potters were hiding in.

"Potter Manor was and still is fine we shouldn't have to stay here," James Potter argued for the thousandth time.

"Dumbledore brought us here. I trust him, don't you?" Lily Potter replied for the thousandth time.

"Look all that matters is the fact that we and the children are fine and safe," Genevieve Potter (James' younger sister) said yet again trying to be the peacemaker. That was when the doorbell rang.

"Ah, that's probably Sirius," James said jubilant. The thing was after the arguments Sirius would appear as if by magic with news, with someone or something that would lift their spirits but he never appeared early enough to be involved with the arguments. Though James wanted to live in the fantasy that his friend had perfect timing Genevieve speculated he probably just hid outside the house whenever he came around in the middle of their arguments only daring to come in when he was sure the coast was clear. That was why she found it odd that the doorbell was ringing. Usually Sirius would simply come inside or knock but he had never used the doorbell. But her brother had already left before she could voice her concerns.

"Oh. Hi Sirius, we—Lily, Genevieve! Get the children, it's him! You-know-wh― ," his voice was quickly silenced by a swift **"Avada Kedavra"** and a flash of green light, but by then Lily and Genevieve had already ran into the children's room. In the small room where they were slept in Harry and Jace were pretending to be sound asleep as their parents ran in.

"Barricade the door!" Lily shouted.

"That won't keep him out," Genevieve said back but she was already moving random objects in front of the door.

"It will stall him!" she replied half hysterical, totally frantic.

Harry and Jace watched in confusion as their parents moved frantically around the room moving everything except the bed the children were (not) sleeping in. Then suddenly Lily stopped and moved towards the children. While lifting Harry and Jace into her arms she nodded to Genevieve her intention was clear: she wanted to apparate the children and herself away.

(Note: if your confused all of this happened in under five minutes and if you're wondering what's keeping Voldemort so long it is because Dumbledore feared something like this would happen so he, James, Lily, Sirius and Genevieve laid a lot of traps―both magical and non-magical― and I mean it when I say a lot)

They were wrong. Their assumption that merely barricading the door against Voldemort would be enough to keep him back was wrong. As Voldemort blasted the door of the nursery clean off its hinges, Lily and Genevieve stood together in front of Harry and Jace.

"Move aside," Voldemort said.

"Never! We won't let you touch either of them!" Genevieve shouted.

"An annoyance," Voldemort said. He pointed his wand at her, **"Crucio."** Genevieve collapsed instantly.

"Genevieve!" Lily shouted before turning to him, "You monster!" Voldemort ignored her and advanced forward.

"Stop. I won't let you harm them. Never!" Lily screamed at him while hurling insults to try and make him falter. Her technique didn't work.

"So persistent." Voldemort pointed his wand at her. **"Avada Kedrava."**

"No!" Genevieve screamed as she staggered to her feet. The cruciatus curse was still in full blow but the death of her best friend right in front of her was all that was in her head; that and saving Harry and Jace. Who watched on in interest assuming they were playing a game with the strangely dressed man.

"Such determination, you would make an excellent Death Eater," Voldemort remarked.

'Over my dead body and even then…' Genevieve thought.

"I'd. Rather. DIE." Genevieve proclaimed.

"Then, so be it." Voldemort replied simply.

"**Expelliarmus,"** Genevieve shouted.

Nothing happened; Voldemort's wand didn't fly out of his hand. It didn't even twitch. She realised he must have used a protective spell without speaking. She had always been really extremely bad at silent spells in Hogwarts.

"Did you really think such a spell would work on me? You naive woman," Voldemort pointed his wand at her then said "I won't waste my magic using my precious Avada Kedavra against you."

Genevieve was… confused, to say the least, at Voldemort's sudden change of heart. "So you're _not_ going to kill me?" she said incredulously.

Voldemort smiled. And it was a picture to haunt all those who saw it for the rest of their lives―Harry, Jace and Genevieve included.

"You should know that in this world there are worse things than death."

'Worse things than death,' Genevieve thought uneasily 'where have I heard something like that before.' Then it suddenly hit her "You don't mean… "**THAT**", do you?" Genevieve said aloud. Voldemort continued on as if she hadn't spoken.

"And it will get rid of these two won't it? Much better than wasting a precious Avada Kedavra." Genevieve realised―much to her own horror―that she had left the twins unprotected. Voldemort pointed his wand right at them.

"**Elemcio."**

"No!" Genevieve screamed leaping in front of Harry and Jace. The white coloured light that came from Voldemort's wand hit her square in the chest. Genevieve collapsed for the second time that night. Voldemort was, at first, happy to hear that she was crying but when he came closer he realised she was laughing.

"You can't do that spell twice," she said in between wheezing breaths.

Voldemort seethed then upon gaining composure he pointed his wand at the twins.

"**Avada Kedavra."** The whole room was bathed in green light. When the twins could see

clearly again Voldemort was gone. Then once again the children were temporarily half-blinded by a white light and it looked like Genevieve was disappearing into the light. All that was left was a scorch mark where she had been lying.

The twins were confused for a moment then as the sound of a motorcycle sounded they realised that besides each other they were all alone.

And they both suddenly fell asleep from pure exhaustion.


	2. Freedom's release

Chapter One

Freedom's Release

**_3 years ago…_**

There was a knock on the door. As usual Harry had been forced to open the door for whoever it was. He hadn't gone down without a fight though. That conversation had gone like this:

Knock on the door.

"Dudley, get the door," Uncle Vernon said lazily.

"Make Harry get it," Dudley whined while stuffing himself with food. It was only the second day into the summer vacation and Dudley had most probably gained a new trouser size already.

"Harry, get the door," Vernon said.

"Make Dudley get it," Harry replied.

"Get the door, boy," Vernon said again. When Harry didn't move Vernon pulled out his old Smeltings stick and threw it at him. The stick was dodged skilfully; having to get the door was not.

Harry, now in front of the door, noticed that there were two silhouettes, which meant two people. Then one of them left. Harry opened the door.

A girl, who instantly reminded him of Dudley, stood in front of him. Harry wasn't quite sure why as he looked at the girl properly; where Dudley was big she was small; she was tallish as opposed to being short-ish and the only thing she had in common with Dudley―who was hard on the eyes, had more chins than necessary and was the worst bully at age seven in town―was the dirty blonde hair that fell from her head to her shoulders whereas this girl looked weak enough to be blown away by a single gust of the wind and had a very feminine face. She was also wearing a uniform. White skirt, black undershirt, knee high black socks, a white blazer, a white beret with a black stripe through the centre and one grey stripe on either side of the black one and a grey tie with a crest on the tie and blazer.

The girl walked past him into the house and shouted "Mummy, Daddy! I'm home."

"Dame?" Uncle Vernon shouted from the kitchen, surprise clear in his voice. Harry wondered where he had heard this name before. Wait hadn't she called them 'Mummy and Daddy'? He realised they were twins, which was why she reminded him of Dudley. Probably the reason why she had looked familiar was because he had seen her in photos but he hadn't seen her in real life for a long time.

Harry closed the door but was stopped by a person's foot. He opened the door and was face to face with a girl who looked extremely familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. The girl had the same green eyes, black unruly hair and a pair of glasses as he did while wearing the same uniform as Dame. This girl was carrying a lot of luggage. She unlike Dame greeted him.

"Good afternoon," She then proceeded to walking past him. Harry after closing the door followed her into the kitchen where Dame and Vernon were hugging in front of Dudley who looked faintly disgusted.

"Ahem," all attention went to the girl. "Dame. Where should I put your luggage?" the girl said politely.

"Oh you can leave it in my old room," Dame said offhand.

She nodded and left.

"So who was that?" Dudley asked.

"My, you don't even remember your dear cousin Dudley. Well it's only to be expected," Dudley looked furious, "anyway that was Jace, Jace Potter. Your sister I believe," she directed that at Harry. "Now that I think about it, you haven't seen her or me since childhood. We were all three when we were sent to S.L.A.B.S."

"Slabs?" Harry asked.

Dame, looking positively horrified that her precious and prestigious school had been called 'slabs', said almost two full octaves higher "No! St Lucians Academy and Boarding School. NOT _SLABS_!"

Harry, sensing a tantrum, turned away from the near hysterical girl and contemplated what she had said. If it was true it would explain why she looked so familiar, he would see her face every time he looked in the mirror, they _were_ identical. Harry hadn't noticed but Uncle Vernon's face had turned a violent shade of puce(?) when Dame had mentioned Jace Potter.

"PETUNIA," Uncle Vernon roared. Jace had been walking down the stairs after depositing Dame's luggage when Aunt Petunia ran past her down the stairs. She stopped turned around and practically screamed when she saw Jace.

* * *

After they had calmed down Petunia, Jace was allowed in.

"Good afternoon. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, I am sincerely sorry if our sudden arrival surprised you." Jace said politely. Her politeness had thrown them off. Of course.

"U-Um yes eh," Vernon took a second to gain composure. "So why did you decide to visit after so long?"

Dame and Jace looked at each other. "Well… _I_ just wanted to visit," Dame said. "_She_ came to give you a letter from the school."

They all looked to Jace, each with a different expression. Dudley & Dame: Looking forward to it, Vernon & Petunia: Dread and lastly Harry: Sympathetic. It was obvious they all thought it was bad news.

Sighing, Jace reached into her pocket, pulled the letter out and handed it to Vernon. Who opened it and read it aloud:

_Dear Guardians of Ms Jace Potter,_

_As you know in St Lucians _("They should call it by its full proper name," Dame had sniffed)_ we have tests in which there is no such thing as full marks_*****_. The average grade for her age is 100 – 150 while our more advanced get 450 – 950. Our highest grade at college level was 127,600. But _(Uncle Vernon drew in a shaky breath) _Jace has far exceeded this; her current grade being the highest ever in the school, let alone in her age level. So because of this Jace has been given an honorary certificate and we are sad to say we will have to let her leave the school for the Teachers and Professors no longer have anything left to teach her. It is her choice whether or not she decides to stay at the school or not._

_P.S. Phone this number with Jace's choice. 089 XXX XX XXX._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Math, English and Science Teacher,_

_And Ms Potter's Home room Teacher,_

_Tori Lexton._

There was a long silence as the contents of the letter sank in. Jace, looking a tiny bit smug as she had already known what was in the letter, glanced at everyone's shocked expressions with a satisfaction not evident on her face. She had learned at least that much at S.L.A.B.S. She shuddered as dark memories tried to resurface but she pushed them down with a force. She made it a rule that for the rest of her good long life she would try extremely hard to forget Them and The Followers.

The silence Jace had been enjoying was broken by Dame shouting "_What?"_ and lunging at her father. But Jace also enjoyed watching Dame wrestle Vernon to the ground to get the letter. Dame read it and reread over and over, then she suddenly slammed it to the ground screaming "Forgery!It has to be fake!" over and over.

Vernon dragged his hysterical seven-year-old daughter off the floor into a chair. More silence followed, Jace watched as the Dursley's shared equal looks of discomfort. Vernon coughed.

"Well…. This is unexpected." Vernon said at last.

Suddenly everyone was talking at once. Except Harry and Jace.

"Silence," Vernon roared "We will continue this in the morning." They hadn't noticed but it had already become dark. Calming Aunt Petunia down had taken longer than they had thought.

As the Dursleys moved upstairs Harry wondered where Jace would be sleeping.

"So what would my sleeping arrangements be? Am I sleeping on the couch?" Jace asked Vernon who was pulling Dame out of the chair turned to her.

"You're rooming with your brother," Vernon told her and left. Jace and Harry were all alone in the kitchen. Jace turned and looked him straight in the eye and it was like Harry could tell what she was thinking. Jace was reviewing him in a way. His potential strength, height, brains etc. were all being put together in numbers and measured. He hated it.

"Stop that," Harry said. She stopped but looked confused.

"Stop what?" Jace asked. He guessed she must have been doing it unconsciously but otherwise ignored it.

There was just enough space in the cupboard for Jace's small trunk. As they got into the bed they would have to be sharing, Harry felt the same thing he had earlier like he was being pulled into Jace's mind. He could tell she was happy to be at the Dursley's _which made no sense to Harry at all_, and she felt that this was her salvation _then S.L.A.B.S. must have been hell. _Oh now she was thinking of S.L.A.B.S. wait now she's forcing it out and away_ what could be so bad that she is trying to forget it so hard?_ **Something bad** she thought in answer and Harry was pushed out. He sat there as Jace turned in her sleep and wondered if this mind reading thing was part of being twins. Maybe it was one of those so called twin-things. Possibility rate for that: High. Harry closed his eyes and was soon dreaming about things unmentionable to the Dursleys.

* * *

It was soon morning and Harry woke to find the bed empty. Maybe it had been a dream? He was proven wrong when he opened the door of his cupboard and the smell of food hit him hard. He followed the smell into the kitchen and was startled to see that all the Dursleys were sitting around the table and Jace was cooking. Wait. Someone other than Aunt Petunia was cooking in her kitchen and she wasn't saying a word about it. He pinched himself hard to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It hurt a lot.

"Definitely not dreaming," he muttered to himself as he took the seat farthest away from the Dursleys. Jace served out the food. Sausages and omelette with vegetables. For once Dudley didn't mind he fact he was eating vegetables. She served herself last. The Dursleys including Dame kept asking for more until their fourth helping when Jace subtly reminded them they still had to eat lunch. Harry had enjoyed his too but knew better than to ask for more he remembered Oliver Twist and shuddered. Harry wasn't too sure he liked that story.

"Ahem," Vernon said loudly. "About yesterday…" Suddenly everyone started voicing their opinions, making sure to sound like they were right. Except Harry and Jace. Again.

"Ahem, I believe the letter said it was Jace's choice," Harry interrupted.

"She is only seven. All of you are!" Petunia nearly shouted. 'She's getting good at making loud sounds,' someone thought.

"She's only seven and got the highest grades in all of St Lucians," Harry earned a glare from Dame for that but he continued, "Jace is most likely smarter than all of us put together."

The Dursleys sat and contemplated that and were surprised to find they agreed.

They all turned to Jace who was starting on her sausages then looked up in surprise. She was too busy eating to tune into their conversation. 'Note-to-self when you want Jace for something she most likely won't do, stick some food in front of her. She is more likely to say yes then,' Harry told himself; he started wonder how he came up with that one and if he would end up making lots of note-to-self notes? Well that is only if she stays. Possibility rate: High. While he had been thinking all this someone had asked Jace whether she wanted to stay or go. Harry waited for her answer.

"Oh," then she grinned. "I'm staying."

Oh the next few years would be interesting indeed, Harry thought as he and Jace watched the chemical chain reaction on the Dursleys' faces.

* * *

**Author Talk**

**Yay I've finally done it put together my first chapters**

***I got this idea from an anime "Baka to Test to Shoukanjyuu" well basically there is a time limit and your given a book of tests you have to see how far and how many you can answer correctly in that time limit the school is also divided into A,B,C,D,E,F but I will explain that later**

**Please review constructive criticism is ok I'd like to know is this terrible or...not so terrible? **


	3. Courtesy of the Potter Twins

**Author Talk: I'm back and yes sorry it took so long but I truly suck at updating.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter... yet. I just need J. K. Rowling to reply to my many emails and letters and then we'll see.**

**Claimer: I just realised I** **_do _own something. Like Jace and the plot and St Lucians and Dame and uh... You know what I'm gonna let you read the story now**

* * *

Chapter Two

Courtesy of: the Potter Twins

_**Present Day**_

It was one of those days. Jace had woken up, saw the date on the calendar, closed her eyes and went straight back to sleep. If she could have, she would sleep through it. Sadly that was not to be; as she woke up to hear the three words that should never ever be put into the same sentence:

"Happy Birthday Dudley," either Vernon or Petunia said.

Ugh no, no, no, no. Harry looked at Jace who was groaning aloud.

"Get out of bed," he said throwing a pillow at her which she caught and threw back.

"Harry. Do me a solid and bring a knife or gun or something," Jace replied.

"No."

"But, Harry―"

"If I have to go through the unspeakable horror that is Dudley's birthday, then so. Do. You." With that he dragged her out of bed and she fell on her trunk. Not the nicest of landings Jace thought as she rubbed her sore butt.

"Fine," Jace pointed at him. "Changing. Out." She flicked her finger towards the door. Harry grinned and left.

* * *

Jace came out in her usual attire (jeans and T-shirt) and walked past Harry straight towards her impending doom. In the living room. Oh god.

Jace and Harry entered the room to see Dudley open something he would break in mere seconds. Jace did that every time Dudley was given something, calculate how long it will be until he breaks it, how long it will take to fix and then how much it will sell for. Selling other people's things isn't bad if you need the money. And she had… the first time.

The others were just easy money.

So far Dudley had gotten a camera (13 minutes), a laptop (an hour), robotic action figure (barely 2 minutes), remote controlled cars (already broken he just didn't know yet), build your own world set (3 days) and so on. (3 days is a new record everything else is under that.)

Jace knew how it went: it was Dudley's day so she and Harry had to pretend to not exist. Then during "Dudder's" birthday trip with a friend, they would be sent to Mrs Figgs. An old lady who though she pays Jace for doing random chores and such may be quite insane as she spends quite a lot of time talking to herself. But then so do a lot of people she knew and they were geniuses. At least to Jace, they were.

The phone rang. Harry stopped listening in on his sister's inner monologue and turned his attention to his aunt who was answering the phone. At first she seemed to be content then she got really happy but then her face contorted into a mask of horror.

She said "goodbye" then slammed the phone down. Which brought all attention to her.

"M- Mrs Figgs has had an accident – broke her leg – and now she can't take them," she pointed her finger at the Potter twins like they were a terrible monster or vermin or something.

"What was she doing to break her leg?" Vernon asked.

"Pushed by unruly ruffians," Jace couldn't help but notice that the last bit of the sentence seemed to be aimed at them but… it was probably Paranoia. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Yes, kids these days," OK that one was definitely pointed at them. "Nothing like our Dudley," Vernon sighed. Jace tried very hard to resist the urge to laugh very VERY loudly. Oh, the irony. Dudley was a Brat and/or a Prat (capitals intended) but the best adjectives for use to describe him would be **Stupid****, ****Bullying****, ****Arrogant****, ****Spoiled****, ****Uncaring** etc. She sometimes wondered whether it was really her and Harry who needed glasses.

"I agree," Petunia said. These People Are Freaking BLIND.

"So what shall we do about _them_?" Vernon said, hissing.

"We can stay here!" Harry and Jace said in unison. It was their opinion that anytime not spent with the Dursleys was time well spent.

"So we can come back to the house half burned down? I do not think so," Petunia hissed.

"Can't anybody else take them?" Dudley whined.

"No Duddy-baby, everyone else is booked up," Petunia said gently.

"B-b-but they c-can't come th-they always ruin everything," he cried latching himself onto his mother but while his parents weren't looking he stuck his tongue out at the Potter twins.

"I'm sorry Dudley but there's nothing we can do," Petunia said staring death rays at Harry and Jace. 'Not like it's our fault,' Harry thought.

* * *

So that's how Harry found himself squashed into the back seat with Jace, Dudley and Perry Rossney, Dudley's right hand man –or was it boy? But whatever it was did not merit the fact he was squished -or was it squashed?

_God, Harry make up your mind. It doesn't really matter whether it's squished or squashed anyway considering the fact __**they mean the bloody same thing.**_

'Jace. Invading my mind again, are we?'

No response.

'Fine but how would you know? It's not like you have a dictionary or… Jace sometimes I am under the impression that God swapped your human brain for something else like a calculator or dictionary or something?'

She didn't answer.

She didn't answer for a while.

_Harry… I sometimes worry about you._

He couldn't help it. He had to laugh. Jace glared at him while the Dursleys plus Perry gave him looks obviously questioning his sanity. He pinched himself to make sure it was real. But really this was genuinely happening. Hah. _Jace_ was wondering about _his_ sanity. Oh… Wait. Maybe he _**should**_ be a bit worried…

_Harry! I'm being serious about this. Okay, I mean seriously how stupid can you get?_

"Hey!" he said out loud. Again the Dursleys plus Perry gave him looks questioning his sanity while Jace just sighed in exasperation.

"Um… uh… yeah I mean, I-I just saw something that reminded me of my dream," Harry said thinking fast while cursing his inability to lie perfectly and keep his thoughts to himself. "That uh there was a flying motorcycle and then that billboard appeared and it had a bike on it so―" He was going to say "so I thought why not go ahead and shout "hey" at it," which would probably have caused Jace to laugh a lot louder than she already was, though she was trying to keep the sound to a bare minimum (emphasis on trying). But then Uncle Vernon decided to explode. Like, literally. Okay maybe not literally… But it sounded like an explosion.

"MOTORCYCLES CAN'T FLY," Uncle Vernon boomed.

"N-no it was just a—" Harry tried, he really tried to explain but Jace knew how it would turn out so she tuned out everything until her uncle's rant faded to simple "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH."

So it ended with "Sorry," said Harry. And the ride to the zoo passed quietly and uneventfully, as did the zoo trip.

Until they got to the reptile area that is.

* * *

It was the last bit before they had to go home. Jace had enjoyed everything especially the part when Perry and Dudley wet themselves when the female lions growled at them for trying to get near their babies.

But now they were in the reptilian area. Jace was immediately pulled towards the lizards section as she loved lizards and all animals for that matter. For that her brothers would always tut-tut at her and say "You don't love them enough to become a vegetarian for them or their survival." Damn Harry making her feel guilty.

She turned to look at Dudley and Vernon, who she realised were standing in front of the snake―oh a Boa Constrictor. This should be interesting. She inched closer to hopefully witness Dudley and Vernon repeat Dudley and Perry's earlier… um _incident_.

But she was disappointed to find that the Boa Constrictor was pretending to be asleep.

And try as they might they could not get it to 'wake up'. So the two of them left the snakes and, sadly, without incident.

Her brother, who had been standing right beside Vernon and Dudley, had moved in front of the snake which had opened an eye. Harry got down on his hunkers and his lips moved a few times but she was too far away too hear him.

Then Harry turned around and beckoned her towards him. She walked over to him and mimicked his position.

"Look at this," Harry said and pointed to the Constrictor.

She had almost said "Yes, Harry it's a snake. How _amazing,_" but the Boa Constrictor decided to start talking.

"_Who is thisss?" _the snake said (or is it hissed?).

"I'm Jace," Jace replied automatically, before what had just happened sank in. A snake. Just talked. To her. She could practically feel her face lighting up. "Can you understand me?" she asked.

"_Yesss. Now I have a quesss-tion. You have different names yet you look the sssame assside from your hair, your voices are similar but not exactly, your personalities differ in certain assspectsss and your eyes have ssseen different things in different ways. Pray tell, what new-fangled magic is this?"_ the snake … let's just go with hissed.

Harry and Jace were taken aback. Harry wondered when the last time the Constrictor had talked to people was, considering that the way it spoke was in a very _"The Days of William Shakespeare and Other Great Poets of His Time"_ fashion. But what surprised Jace was the fact that the Boa C. had never seen twins before—or heard of them for that matter.

They both ignored the fact it had called it magic.

"We're twins," Harry replied after a short pause.

"_Twins?" _the snake asked. Jace realised that the Boa C. probably didn't know what the word 'twins' even meant. So she went on to explain Twineology—was that even a word?

She suddenly heard Dudley's voice saying "Look Dad, the Freaks made it move. The snake's awake." And felt the force of a miniature elephant knock into her and Harry, causing them to fall over onto the floor. Jace's butt had been sore already so landing on the hard floor did nothing good for her. Or the fact that she and Harry's anger levels were steadily rising causing their minds to join and their individual thoughts became blurred.

Her usual calculated thinking was replaced by pure rage and she knew that it was the same for Harry. And then—

Screams of "Snake!" filled the air and some children made a rhyme for it as they couldn't understand the 'danger' of the situation.

"_The snake, the snake,_

_The snake has escaped!_

_We don't know how he did it?_

_The glass has gone with it_

_So the slippery snake knows:_

_It's time it goes."_

The glass had disappeared. They didn't know how but they knew it had something to do with them. The thought was proved when the snake when passing them hissed "Brasil Aqui vou eu ... Obrigado amigos," which Jace translated as "Brazil… Here I come... Thank you, friends."

The twins just hoped the Dursleys would remain oblivious.

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. "But the glass…" he kept asking himself, "Where did the glass go?"

And for all the entire world neither twin could help him find the answer to that question.

'Frankly,' Harry thought/spoke to Jace, 'it's a miracle the guy hasn't fainted yet but I'm glad he hasn't.'

_True—Oh Harry! You jinxed it. Look at him— he's slumped in a chair._

'There is a difference between fainting and slumping in a chair while conscious,' Harry told her.

She was silent for a moment before she suddenly said—

_I bet you anything he's on the inch of cardiac arrest._

And he almost took that bet. Almost. But he knew Jace better than that, also they were still on the terms of another unfinished bet which meant if they were to go by the Rules then if Jace won either of them first she would get to collect her reward and part of the other bet's some. Plus she hadn't clarified what 'anything' was so it meant she would take the best from him. Dang. He had really wanted to take that bet since he had more chance of winning than in the other one. But still; he couldn't take the consequences if the risk played out badly for him.

'No dice Jace.'

_Darn._ They both looked at the keeper who was now standing up from his chair. He didn't look near the inch of cardiac arrest. He was escorting numerous hysterical women and men with their still chanting children outside.

_Oh. Guess it was good thing that you didn't take me on in that bet. I would have lost._ She stood up dusting herself off from the fall and breaking the connection.

Meanwhile Harry was in inner mental turmoil. Damn his thinking. No. Damn Jace; it was thanks to her that he got this from spending so much time exploring their mental connection. Of course something from her would rub off on him.

He stood up and followed Jace, Perry and the Dursleys back to the car while glaring ice daggers at Jace. Which she ignored.

Sometimes he hated his sister.

* * *

Once they were all back in the car and Harry was being squished/squashed again, Perry and Dudley were telling high tales of how the snake had attacked them in so many new ways (some that even a new kind of alien hybrid snake couldn't do in the space of barely 3 minutes). It would have been interesting if Jace hadn't known they were outrageous lies or if she hadn't seen the snake slithering by them doing absolutely nothing except snapping at their heels or hissing at them. But the worst was when Perry calmed down enough to say "Jace and Harry were talking to it, making it open its eyes. Weren't ya?"

Oh God. Jace swore that when Perry was in a dark alley all on his own, with no witnesses, she would most definitely kill him in the messiest most painful way she could imagine. And she had a very broad imagination.

Vernon contained himself until they were back in the Dursley household. He was so angry he couldn't form proper sentences.

"Go – cupboard – no meals – _Now_!"

They went to the cupboard to avoid being physically hurt.

They both thought about the time they had spent with the Dursleys. Miserable. Ten years for Harry. Six for Jace. Jace twirled a strand of her white hair around her finger. **(AN: OK I should probably explain the hair. Jace likes to earn money so she found a Hairdressers store where you get paid £15 for letting a newcomer hairdresser do your hair. She's been doing it since she was ten as that's the age limit. The Dursleys tried to stop her and on one occasion they shaved her bald thinking she couldn't do it if she didn't have hair but it grew back with the dye in it but you could still wash it out after a few weeks.)**There had been many times when she would pray and hope some new family member would come get them. But apparently the Dursleys were all they had. Harry glanced at his sister playing with her hair. He was glad he had her. But there would always be those times when she scared him. Like three weeks after she was back and Vernon had slapped her for supposed cheek. He remembered how she had smiled and offered Vernon the other side of her face. He remembered the conversation they had had after. But most of all she remembered the last thing she had said to him then.

_**Flashback**_

"_Hey." He had asked cautiously. She didn't turn around._

"_Jace." She still wouldn't turn. This annoyed Harry._

"_Hey!" She turned around and while Jace was crossing her arms Harry realised he hadn't thought it through. His main goal had been to get her to turn. After that: Blank._

"_Um…" God… he really hadn't thought this through, "I sort of saw you w-with Vernon and I uh—"_

"_You were wondering why I reacted like that." It wasn't a question. Or a statement._

_Harry, your such an idiot. She won't answer that question. I mean you even needed her to finish the sentence. He continued futilely on._

"_Uh yes that. I mean why because you… he hit very hard… it would have made… eh… fall over… or… at least kn-knocked a few teeth out. Eh um I meant… no… I mean that.. l-like then you went and offered him your other cheek. L-like you were unfazed. So I was just wondering eh why you did that. Because it must have hurt... even if just a little." Harry thought over everything he had just said, He had sounded painfully nervous. He mentally shook himself; it was normal to be nervous about a girl – his sister—who he hadn't seen or talked to since they were little. He had figured the slap had really hurt her and she was just being brave. But what happened next surprised him._

_She had reached out and stroked a side of his face with her hand; he flinched instinctively at the close contact._

"_Harry," she had said her voice and eyes soft as her fingers gently caressed a side of his face, the side that Dudley had heavily bruised days earlier. It was in the process of healing and was practically unnoticeable, yet she had. Noticed, that is. "I've been through four years in a place worse than my definition of Hell. No. It upgraded Hell." Her eyes clouded and she looked away from him, drawing her hand back to her side. "Anything that injures me or could kill me and, heck, _should_ kill me is nothing. This is absolute zero, nil, naught, nada, nothing compared to that. Harry. Nothing at all."_

_**Flashback End**_

He had eventually gotten her to confide in him. Most of her secrets. He knew despite everything she still didn't fully trust him. But she didn't fully trust the air they breathe.

He looked at his sister again. She had stopped twirling her hair and now had her eyes closed.

Sleeping. Jace looked normal sleeping. Like your average eleven year old girl minus the white hair and the fact she was holding a weapon— under her pillow so you wouldn't notice.

Harry decided he should get some sleep too.

* * *

The following morning was when the first letter came.

The letters that changed their lives.


	4. What started with a letter

**Disclaimer: Do you really think that if I owned Harry Potter Fred, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and almost nearly everyone else I really liked would've died? Really?**

* * *

Chapter Three

What Started With A Letter…

The Boa Constrictor escapade earned Harry and Jace the longest punishment yet. When they finally had the freedom to breathe proper fresh air, it was almost August. Jace immediately got to work on fixing all of Dudley's broken toys and selling them, earning her around £858. A good deal mostly but she felt that all things considered she could have gotten a higher price for most things.

Harry on the other hand was playing Dudley and co.'s favourite game: Harry-hunting. They never went for Jace as they all knew how dangerous it was to publicly make her your enemy. So Harry was next in line.

After some days of this it was time to start thinking about new schools. Dudley was going to Smeltings all boys private school. Harry and Jace were being sent to the local comprehensive; despite how many letters and emails the Dursleys got to let Jace (and Harry sometimes when the school knew how close the twins were) come to their school, and the other small fact that Jace didn't really need to go to school anymore.

The day after Dudley and Petunia went to get his Smeltings uniform was sunny.

'Very bright. People will be in good moods and so the sales should be good to day,' thought Jace 'I might even be able to bring Harry if it's bright enough to keep the Dursleys happy.'

That was when she noticed the rank smell coming from the kitchen.

_What the hell…?_

She stopped staring out the window and turned to check out the smell. But if she had turned around or kept looking out the window she would have noticed the owl carrying two letters…

But she didn't.

Instead she walked into the kitchen to see Vernon and Dudley about to sit down, Harry standing looking torn between thoughtful and annoyed —at least to her it seemed that way but it could just be her imagination— and Petunia poking at something in a basin that held an uncanny resemblance to elephant skin. So the smell was…. the… thing in the basin. Or was it things?

She glanced at Harry to clarify the situation. He shrugged and thought-spoke the details.

She grimaced inwardly. Jace was not wearing those elephant skin rejects. And she knew she could afford it. So could the D's what with the special money they got from the government for taking her and Harry in but they usually spent the money on Dudley and Dame, only ever using it on the twins when the Social worker came by.

*The sound of the post coming through the mail slot.*

The post. Damn. Jace had been so close to breakfast. So close. 'I helped a nun last week,' Jace thought/spoke to Harry. 'Why am I being punished?'

_Karma. It does things its own way. _But she could hear the slight, schadenfreude in his voice as Vernon forced them to get the post.

But Jace had some devilish energy to burn. Even as the Angel in her told Jace it was a bad idea. Jace just couldn't resist.

"Aunt P," Jace started, "I'm pretty sure that the killing and skinning of elephants, to wear as clothes is against certain laws." And then she ran out before Petunia or any of the Dursleys could fully process what she had said.

Harry was already at the slot. He didn't notice Jace coming up behind him; with good reason. He was distracted.

Because there on the doormat were four letters: a post card from Vernon's sister Marge, an envelope that looked very much like a bill and then two letters. _For Harry and Jace._

Jace was looking at the letters in stunned silence before reaching down to pick it up. Harry did the same. On his was:

_Mr H. Potter_

_The Cupboard under the Stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

He glanced at Jace's:

_Ms J. Potter_

_The Cupboard under the Stairs_

_4 Privet Drive _

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

"Whoa…" Jace breathed out "We're being stalked."

Harry had to laugh; only Jace could be that – what? Best word to describe it would be nonchalant or something. No. Um... I got it! Blasé. That was the word. Only Jace could be so blasé in these situations. Uh. Moving on. The envelope was thick and heavy and the address was written in an emerald ink that matched the twins' eyes.

They were both about to open their letters when Vernon's impatience was voiced.

"Hurry up! What are you doing checking for letter bombs?" Vernon chuckled while Harry and Jace grimaced at the bad joke. They folded up the letters, put them into their pockets, Jace picked up the bill and postcard and they walked back into the kitchen.

Jace handed the other mail to Vernon and then followed her brother to sit down and gently tear into their letters.

Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust then looked at the postcard. "Marge is sick," he told Petunia. "Ate something strange…"

"Dad!" Dudley said suddenly, startling the twins enough to make them look up. "The freaks have got something!"

Jace gave Dudley the death glare when Vernon snatched both letters from their hands.

"Hey!"The twins said in unison. "Those are our letters!" trying to snatch them back.

"Who'd be writing to you?" Vernon sneered, glancing at the letters then his face changed colour so fast it vaguely resembled a malfunctioning traffic light. But it didn't stop there; by the end of it his face was a greyish white like rather old porridge.

"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.

Dudley tried to get the letter but Vernon wouldn't let him near, instead handing it over to Petunia who read the first line curiously before she paled. She made a choked sound and looked like she would faint.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!" They stared at each other. But Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He hit Vernon with his Smeltings stick.

"I want to read the letters," he announced loudly.

"We want to read the letters," the twins said furiously "As they're _ours_!"

"Get out, all of you," Vernon choked out.

The twins didn't move.

"WE WANT OUR LETTERS!" they shouted.

"Let _me_ see it," Dudley demanded.

"OUT!" Vernon roared and he pushed all three of them out the door and slammed it too. Jace didn't even bother fighting instead she upped her death glare level. Dudley whimpered and gave in. Harry listened from the crack between the door and the floor and Dudley from a hole in the wall.

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia said quietly, "the address – how do they know where they sleep? Are they watching the house?"

"Watching – spying – following us even," he replied muttering.

"So what do we do? Write back? Tell them we don't want—"

Jace could hear Vernon pacing. Harry could see his shiny black shoes.

"No," he replied. "We'll just ignore it. If they don't get an answer... yes that's the best way…"

"But—"

"We shan't have any in this house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took them in we would stamp out all that nonsense!?"

* * *

That night Vernon did the unthinkable. He visited Harry and Jace in their cupboard. They both glared at him, forgetting to be surprised.

"Where's our letters?" Harry said instantly. "Who's writing to us?"

"No one, it was addressed to you by mistake. I've burnt them." Vernon replied.

"You had no right," Jace said quietly. The danger alarms went off in Harry's head and he clasped her hand in his to calm her down. "It wasn't a mistake. It had our cupboard on it!" he continued angrily.

"SILENCE!" Vernon yelled. Jace growled at him and he forced a painful looking smile. "Yes – well about this cupboard. Your Aunt and I have been thinking… you're both growing up … we think you'd be better suited to Dame and Dudley's second bedrooms."

"Why?" Harry asked now suspicious.

"Don't ask questions! Just move all this stuff upstairs." And he left.

The Dursleys' house had six bedrooms: Vernon and Petunia's, the guest room, the two where Dame and Dudley slept (in Dame's case "had slept" since she hadn't visited the Dursleys since Jace's letter) and the two which they had claimed as their own but Dame barely ever used hers and Dudley just put his old (mostly broken) toys.

Harry sat down in Dudley's spare room looking around. This would be Jace's idea of a goldmine. There were so many things here that she could fix and sell for gosh knows what.

It had only taken one trip for them to bring all their stuff upstairs. He looked around once more. The only thing untouched was a shelve of books. Jace would like that. If she didn't want it then she could sell them for how much it cost to buy them since they weren't damaged and she could read the ones she liked. Then sell them with a JAce Approved seal on the back. He still didn't know how that worked but every time he asked she'd smile and say "Wait just a little longer Harry. Then I'll let you in on the magic." Or something even more cryptic. Once she had adopted a River Song stance and said simply "Spoilers." No question he had tried to hit her right then. She knew just how much he hated River's enigmatic behaviour in the show. He grit his teeth at the memory. Then it occurred to him since he was staying in this bedroom he and Jace would no longer be together for the first time in three years they wouldn't be sleeping in the same room.

Then Jace barged in with her trunk in hand.

'Speak of the devil and thou shall appear,' Harry thought.

Jace narrowed her eyes at him. _I heard that._

"And if I say you were meant to?" He replied out loud.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"So why are you here anyway?" he asked her, though he was secretly glad she was there. Of course he would never reveal that to her but…

"I'm staying here of course!" she announced gently throwing her trunk onto the second bed in the room. The one Harry was currently sitting on was blue/red and the one Jace had pronounced as hers was black/white. Suiting her perfectly. In a truly ironic way.

"Aren't you meant to be sleeping in Dame's room?" he asked quizzically.

"I was but…" she trailed off, now looking around at the broken things like they were pieces of heaven on earth.

"But what?" he pressed on.

"It- It was so _pink_. So pink I wouldn't be able to sleep in it. The colour burned my eyes and would most likely play a starring role in my nightmares," Jace told him.

Nightmares. _Oh. _That explained why she wouldn't want to sleep there. It would remind her of St Lucians. "And," she said rather quietly like she didn't mean for Harry to hear her. "I would probably miss you too much."

But before he had time to really think about this the sound of Dudley's tantrum reached his ears.

"I don't _want_ him in there … I _need_ that room … make him get out …"

Harry sighed. Any other day. Any other day it would've been a dream come true to be up here; Today though he wished he had the letter instead.

* * *

The next morning's breakfast was somewhat tense and awkward. The twins were waging silent war against the Dursleys, Petunia and Vernon were… well… It was rather hard to explain exactly what was going on with them and Dudley… well. Dudley was in shock; he'd fought screamed, whacked, broken, shrieked, kicked, vomited, thrown and tantrummed (was that even a word?) but he still hadn't gotten back his room.

That day when the post arrived instead of the usual Dudley was sent to fetch the mail. When he had shouted from the hall that there were more letters the twins were there faster than the speed of sound. But Vernon still got there first.

Jace was still laughing three hours later at the scene she had witnessed while the males had fought it out. Vernon had won and the proceeded to burn them.

Harry was pacing the room tying to ignore Jace's loud laughter as he thought. The sender knew they had been moved, they also knew that he and Jace still hadn't read their letters.

So they would try again. And this time they would succeed. He had a plan.

* * *

The alarm went off at six and Harry, after dragging his sister out of the bed, ran down the stairs without changing his clothes as he had went to bed fully dressed. Of course his sister had not been so fortunate. She was currently changing in their bedroom—

"AAARRRGH!"

Harry jumped a foot into the air realising he had stepped on something alive.

The lights turned on, Harry realised that he had stepped on Uncle Vernon. He had planned the perfect counter plan for Harry's brilliant plan.

As Harry was sent into the kitchen the mail arrived. No question Vernon ripped all six letters to shreds. Harry held hope that while Vernon was at work the mail would come and Aunt P would be distracted but Vernon then decided to stay at home from work (at a drill making firm, Harry hoped it was a family business to be passed on to Dudley. Even if Jace or even he would be so much more better for it) and had nailed up the mail slot, further dashing Harry's plans. After hearing and seeing this and the conversation that followed Jace decided that Vernon had put his sanity somewhere and forgotten where he placed it.

* * *

On Friday twenty four letters arrived some had been pushed through the holes in the wall, the small gap under the door, the bathroom window and other things. Vernon stayed home once more and spent the day fixing every little crack, gap or mouse hole he could find. He hummed and jumped at the smallest of sounds.

* * *

On Saturday it became rather strange. Forty-eight letters found their way into the house in the form of eggs. Aunt P shredded the letters in the food mixer and Vernon spent the day on the phone complaining to some poor soul about … everything.

* * *

Sunday was the end of the line.

Vernon had been happy since you couldn't get letters on Sunday. Well, he was happy until something came whizzing out the chimney. No not something – some_things._

The Dursleys ducked, Harry leaped and Jace performed a particularly graceful ballerina jump and she had gotten hold of a letter but it slipped from her grasp as Vernon grabbed her and Harry and flung them out of the room. Petunia and Dudley ran out after them and Vernon slammed the door but they could still hear the sound of the letters bouncing around.

"That does it. You all will e back here in five minutes with your luggage. Packed and ready to go. No Arguments. Go!" Vernon told them in a way that meant 'Disobeying means certain death'. His moustache was half gone.

Ten minutes later they were all in the car. Dudley was sad, Jace was mad, Petunia and Vernon were glad and Harry was squashed/squished again because Dudley was so big. And he was stuck in the middle.

They drove and drove. And drove. And drove some more. Now and again Vernon would take a sharp turn. "Shake 'em off," he said.

They didn't eat. Well the Dursleys hadn't: Jace had seen the problem and had packed some edible snacks for her and Harry to eat in secrecy.

Dudley was in foul mood. He'd missed all his favourite shows, He had no computer and he was hungry.

They stopped outside a hotel. All three children were forced to share a room. Pure torture. Especially with Dudley's strange (and loud) snoring.

Neither twin fell asleep. Each getting up to a different kind of mischief.

* * *

The breakfast was low grade.

The owner came up to talk to them once they were finished. "'Scuse me but are either of you Mr H and/or Ms J Potter? Cos I got about a hundred of these in the mail on the front desk."

_Mr H. Potter / Ms J. Potter_

_Room 17_

_Railview Hotel_

_Cokeworth_

So now they were getting joint letters.

The twins made a grab for the letters she was holding but Vernon slapped them out of the way.

"I'll take them."

The owner stared, obviously wondering if the children had been kidnapped by the strange violent man. But she led him to the front desk anyway.

* * *

Vernon had locked them in the car and gone off to do god-knows-what.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia.

It started to rain. "It's Monday. The Great Humberto's on today. Let's stay somewhere with _TV_."

OH! Gosh it was Monday. So that meant tomorrow. Tuesday was Harry's birthday. And Jace's. He glanced at his sister, and saw that the same revelation and been made to her aswell. Of course birthdays weren't the best but Jace could afford to give him a rather nice present. And he could usually reciprocate with something else.

Uncle V came back. With a long package and a grin on his face.

He ignored questions about the package and pointed them in the direction of a toothless old man and rickety boat. After an explanation they started the boat ride. Terrible. Dudley threw up after and refused to eat. Vernon's "rations" were a joke. Crisps and bananas. And Jace hated bananas plus there wasn't any salt n vinegar.

The shack windows rattled against the storm. Jace had chosen the floor to sleep on and Harry had been forced but neither could sleep. Maybe it was because of Dudley's inhumane snoring. Or something else. Possibly because it was to be their birthday in thirty minutes.

They started the annual countdown.

Soon it was ten minutes, five, one, thirty seconds, twenty , they smirked at each other, ten, nine, maybe they would wake Dudley just to annoy him, three… two…

At One there was a loud sound. Like a cannon on the door.

* * *

**PS: Notice my Big Bang Theory reference?**


	5. Ended with a Giant, a Revelation

**Hiya anyway here's the disclaimer:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even this cookie. It actually belongs to my cousin and she wants it back...**

* * *

Chapter Three

Ended With a Giant, a Revelation and Some Keys

The banging continued. Getting louder and louder. Jace realised that in actual fact someone was knocking on the door not waging war against Britain from across the sea. Dudley jerked awake.

"Where's the bomb?" he asked lamely still half dazed with sleep. A crash sounded from behind and their Aunt and Uncle came skidding out. V had a rifle in his hands. Well. At least they knew what the package had been.

"Who's there? Let me tell you – I'm armed!"

There was a pause then—

"Cool…" the twins had said at once.

A mini-giant was standing in the space the door used to be. He had a tangled, unkempt beard and shaggy, long hair. He had black eyes that shone with kindness yet reminded Jace of beetles. He fixed the door as he walked in. He turned and looked at them.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea? It's been a long journey…"

He went to sit on the sofa causing Dudley to squeal and run away. Jace and Harry however continued to stare in awe.

"An' here's the twins!" the giant said looking at them. Las' time I saw ye, ye were only babies. Yeh look a lot like yer dad but yeh've got yer mother's eyes."

Uncle V made a raspy sound in the back of his throat.

"Leave at once! Sir, you are breaking and entering."

"Ah shut up, yeh great prune," said the giant as he grabbed, bent and threw the rifle that V had been pointing at him. Vernon made another noise in his throat.

"Anyway – Twins," and he pulled something from behind him, "Happy birthday to yeh both. Got summat fer yeh here. May've been a little squashed at a moment but…" He handed Harry the white box. He opened it. He and Jace gasped aloud. Inside was a cake with white and speckles of milk chocolate. With green icing saying _Happy Birthday Harry and Jace_.

It was the most beautiful thing in the world to the either twin's eyes. Neither of them had ever been given the luxury of having an actual cake for their birthday. There was a silence as they both stared at the beautiful thing in front of them. "Who are you?" Jace asked softly still not looking up.

The giant chuckled. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of the keys and Grounds of Hogwarts." He then stoked the fire. Jace had known the fire had been a lost cause but suddenly it was blazing.

_Amazing…_

Then he started taking things out of his coat pockets. The sort of things that wouldn't fit into normal pockets. Soon the smell of proper food was filling the whole hut. Dudley looked slightly remorseful after his father told him not to touch anything Hagrid made as Jace and Harry ate their fill of sausages and other things.

"Sorry, but we still don't really know who you are," Harry said after finishing.

"Call me Hagrid, everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts. Yeh already know 'bout Hogwarts, o' course," Hagrid responded.

"Er — no," Jace said. Seeing the look on Hagrid's face Harry quickly added "Sorry."

"_Sorry?"_ barked Hagrid. Jace judged from his reaction it had been the wrong thing to say. Hagrid was now glaring at the Dursleys. "It's them that should be sorry. I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't know abou' Hogwarts, fer crying out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"

"Learnt—" Jace started.

"All what?" Harry finished.

"ALL WHAT!?" Hagrid was on his feet now and looked rather outraged.

'Will we ever say the right thing to this man?' Jace thought.

_Probably not_.

'Harry. Get out of my head willingly or I will force you out.'

_With your normal mind-shields? Or the annoying one that gives me a headache?_

'Guess.'

Harry left her head swiftly. Jace focused enough to hear Hagrid say, "…these two! — don't know nothin' abou'— about ANYTHING?"

The twins thought this was going a bit too far. Considering Jace's average grade and Harry's fast improving one.

"We know _some_ things," Jace protested.

"Yeah, we can do, you know, maths, science, language and stuff," Harry added.

But Hagrid waved his hand at that. "I meant about _our_ world. _Your_ world. _My_ world. _Yer parent's world."_

Now the twins were very interested as talk of their parents was rare.

"What world?" Jace asked with interest. And Hagrid looked ready to commit multiple homicides. Jace frowned and looked at her brother in exasperation. He shrugged.

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid boomed. Jace felt a smile tug at her lips. Now if he was planning their homicides… The smile turned into a grin. Harry looked at her sideways. _You are so very disturbed. _'I know.'

Harry shook his head and turned to watch Vernon mutter something along the lines of "mimblewimble"

"But yeh have to know something about your mum and dad. I mean, they're _famous. You're_ famous."

"What? – Our parents weren't famous, were they?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yeh don' know… Yeh don' know…" Hagrid was clearly agitated by them 'not knowing'. "Yeh don' know what yeh are?"

V finally got his voice back. "Stop! I forbid you from saying any more!" They ignored him.

"I assume I'm healthy, human, British, eleven and more or less normal," Jace suddenly went quiet. "Unless you're here to tell us that we're actually aliens!" she said brightly, the way you would phrase a joke, but Harry sensed the slight undertone of hope.

Dudley snickered. Harry laughed. Petunia and Vernon stared. Hagrid grinned, obviously assuming she was making a joke.

"No. But that ain't the poin' though. The point is yeh don' know what yeh really are!"

"Do not say anymore!" Vernon commanded.

"You never told 'em? Never told em what was in the letter Dumbledore left for 'em? I was there, I saw him leave it! And you kept it from them for all these years?"

"Kept_ what _from us?" the twins asked, eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" Vernon yelled.

Petunia made a little noise of horror.

"Ah stuff it the lot of yeh! Harry, Jace. Yeh're wizards."

There was a heavy silence. You could probably hear a pin drop. Then—

"NOO!" Harry yelled.

"Yes!" Jace exclaimed. "So, Harry, since I've won," she held out a hand in front of her towards him. "Pay up."

"Yeah but how… How do we know he's not lying? I mean for all we know…"

Jace raised here eyebrows at him. "Do you really believe that, James?"

Harry flinched at the use of his middle name and the cold voice she used it with. It usually meant she was annoyed and/or angry with him. He sighed.

"Course not, Jace. So how much do I owe you…"

Meanwhile the Dursleys and Hagrid were watching the exchange with awed confusion if you could call it that. What they didn't know was that Jace and Harry had a long term bet going on. Whether magic was real or not. Since Jace chose real, Harry chose not. And the reward for the bet was anything. After Harry had sworn to give Jace ownership of what she had requested they remembered the others in the room. Another pause.

"So… We're wizards," Jace stated. Harry snorted.

"Way to go, Jace. You successfully stated the obvious!" Jace glared at him and he grinned.

"Here yeh go. Its abou' time yeh read yer letters," Hagrid replied, distracting the twins from their coming argument. They both turned to him eagerly. Hagrid handed them their letters.

On Jace's:

_Ms J. Potter_

_The Floor_

_Hut-on-the-Rock_

_The Sea_

On Harry's:

_Mr H. Potter_

_The Floor_

_Hut-on-the-Rock_

_The Sea_

They started reading:

_HOWARTS SCHOOL OF WIZARDRY AND WITCHCRAFT_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) _

_Dear Mr/Ms Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than July 31__st__._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Harry's head practically alight with questions he asked the first one that came to mind.

"What does it mean, they await our owl?"

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me!" Hagrid replied and pulled out a rather scruffy looking owl from somewhere in his coat, then a piece of parchment and a quill from god-knows-where in his jacket. He started to write:

_Dear Mr Dumbledore,_

_Given the twins their letters. Taking them to buy their things tomorrow. Weather's terrible. Hope you're well._

_Hagrid_

Hagrid rolled up the letter, gave it to the owl which camped the note in its beak and flew off, out the door Hagrid had opened and into the storm. Then he came back and sat down like throwing a small owl into a storm was something normal and not animal abuse. Harry closed the mouth that had been hanging open.

"So where was I?" said Hagrid, but Vernon had stepped forward looking both fearful and furious.

"They're not going," he said.

Hagrid grunted. "I'd like to see a great Muggle like you try an' stop 'em."

"A what?" Harry asked.

"A Muggle," Hagrid told her. "It's what we wizards call the non-magic-folk like them. T'bad yeh grew up with the biggest Muggles I've ever seen."

"We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to that rubbish, swore we'd stamp it out of 'em! Wizard, indeed!"

Jace had been quiet for far too long and it was starting to worry Harry. But something else was on his mind just then.

"You _knew? _You _knew_ we were – were wizards?"

"_Knew!"_ Petunia shrieked. "_Knew?—"_

But Jace cut her off. She looked up with cold, calculating eyes. Really beating her usual Death Glare. Harry was very happy when she directed that particular look at the Dursleys. A much, much braver person than all of them combined would have run from that look. They didn't have space so they backed away into the wall behind them.

"Of course they knew, Harry. Haven't you noticed that whenever there is mention of our parents they so very obviously avoid it? Instead of using it to hurt us like they do with everything else. Petunia's sister, Lily our mother, probably got a letter judging from their reaction when they saw ours and Dudley doesn't know a thing. They don't know much about the magic or they would've realised what they were doing wasn't working more like causing the opposite effect. Petunia was very obviously jealous of Lily – their parents obviously favoured her. A fault on their part. Lily must've wanted to remain friends with Petunia but was rejected too many times and gave up. Petunia most likely called her a freak, like she does us. Then Lily met James Potter. They got married, had us. By this time the sisters had ceased contact and were ignoring each other's existence. But then they died. Leaving us with no other option than staying with these…" She trailed off leaving her sentence open to interpretation. "But back to our parents. They were very obviously killed. With their magical power they should've been able to defend themselves from any natural disaster or accident. This makes no sense considering you told us they were killed in a car crash. Unless the incident was planned but our parents don't seem the kind to get themselves caught up in that sort of thing. Plus the fact they would have secluded themselves to the Wizarding World and planned car crashes are such a _Muggle_ thing to do. With all of these facts I can conclude that our parents were murdered by a Wizard. A _bad_ wizard. Evil, in fact. But that leaves a question: why didn't this wizard kill us? Correct me if I'm wrong about anything?"

When nobody made a move to change anything Harry whistled.

"Knew I'd regret letting you read and watch everything to do with Sherlock," he said leaning back.

"Yes," she replied with a grin, the coldness forgotten. "He is the Obi-wan Kenobi to my Luke Skywalker." They grinned at each other laughing on the inside.

Jace looked at the expressions from the Dursleys. It was mainly shock (Dudley), awe (Petunia) and anger (Vernon).

"So? Hagrid? Will you tell us more about what happened?" Harry asked, breaking the silence that had followed.

"I didn't expect… I didn't know that yeh wouldn't know yer own story when everyone else in our world grew up hearing your story…"

"Our story?" Jace prodded.

"I don't know whether I'm the right person to tell yeh ... but I can't let yeh go without knowing anything … Well I guess should start from the beginning… There was this dark wizard, he was called – called – he was called… But it's not right that you don't already know his name when everyone else does…"

"What was his name?" Jace prodded some more.

"I don't like saying his name if I can help it. Nobody does."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Blimey, Harry, people are still scared. The things he did… Merlin, this is hard. He was a wizard that went so far bad. It was worse than evil. Worse than that, even. His name was… Maybe I'd be better writing it but – No, yeh should hear it plus I don't know how to spell it. All right… _Voldemort_. That was his name. But he's better known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. One of the darkest wizards of all time ..." and he continued on to explain.

How Voldemort was against muggleborn wizards, and was all for pure blood supremacy. He told them about their parents and Voldemort killing them. "…. The real myst'ry is he tried to kill yeh too. Dunno why, though. But he couldn't do it. That's where yeh got yer scars from; no normal incident could create something like 'em. It's the aftermath of an incredibly evil and powerful curse – took care of your house and your parents, even – but it didn't work on yeh two. No one ever lived after he decided to kill 'em. Took many o' the best witches and wizards to their graves. But yeh lived. You was only babies and yeh lived through such a powerful curse practically unscathed an' that's why yer famous."

The twins' heads were going through a lot of pain as they each tried to find memories of their parents' death. They could remember white and green flashes and laughter. High, cold and cruel laughter. Hagrid watched them sadly.

"Took yeh from the ruins meself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yer here to this lot …"

"What a load of old tosh," Vernon interrupted. "I accept there's something strange, nothing a good beating shouldn't cure – as for your parents, the world's better without them – asked for all they got, getting mixed up with them other weirdoes – I always expected they'd come to a sticky end – "

An enraged Hagrid jumped up and pointed a pink umbrella at Vernon. "I'm warning you, Dursley – one more word – I'm warning you …"

Vernon backed off instantly, for fear of being speared by a pink umbrella.

"That's better..." Hagrid said as he sat down again.

"But where did Vold— I mean You-Know-Who go?" Harry asked.

"Good question. Some say he died – I doubt he had enough human in him left to die though – others say he's still out there hiding too weak to carry on. Because something happened that night, something that finished him – don' know what it was though – but somethin' about yeh stumped him, all right."

Harry wasn't sure about it. Him? A wizard? Maybe Jace… But he, Harry Potter a wizard? The idea was laughable. Jace was having similar doubts. If she was really a wizard then how come all those times— No. She swore she wouldn't think about them. But it still didn't make her feel any better. No matter how much she wanted to believe Hagrid, she couldn't help but think maybe he had come to the wrong Potter twins. Or maybe it was just Harry? Yeah that made sense.

"Hagrid, I think you've come to the wrong person, maybe just Jace though…" Harry said at the exact same time as Jace had said the same thing except she had said Harry where he had said her name. They looked at each other in confusion. And that confusion grew when Hagrid chuckled.

"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when yeh was emotional?" he asked them.

The twins glanced at each other and though about. There were many times when strange things had happened. Harry remembered the time when Jace had a sort of tantrum and then the disaster that had happened afterwards… was that the work of magic? Jace thought of all those times Harry had been running from Dudley's gang and sometimes randomly appeared in places well away from them. Then they both thought back to the Boa Constrictor accident. They'd done that, hadn't they?

They looked back at Hagrid as he grinned at them. "Harry and Jace Potter not wizards – just wait 'til you get to Hogwarts, you'll be rightly famous there…"

But Uncle Vernon just had to open his mouth all over again. Jace sighed. Can this man not learn? Apparently not.

"Haven't I told you before? They're not going. I've read them letters they need all sorts of rubbish. They'll go to Stonewall High and they'll be glad for it." He said angrily.

"A great muggle like you stop Lily an' James Potter's children from going to Hogwarts. Yer mad. Their names have been down since they were born. They're going to one of the best schools out there. In seven years they won't recognise themselves. They'll be with their own kind for a change an' they'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled—" Hagrid responded just as angry.

"I'M NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH THEM MAGIC TRICKS!" Vernon yelled. But he had crossed the line.

"NEVER," Hagrid thundered, pointing his umbrella at him. "EVER – INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!" He swished the umbrella and with a flash of violet and a squeal from Dudley, and then he was dancing and holding his bottom. The twins saw the pig tail poking out from his trousers. It took all their will power not to burst out laughing. The Dursleys didn't think it was funny as they grabbed Dudley and ran into the second room.

Hagrid looked slightly sheepish. "Maybe I over did it with the tail…" he looked at the twins. " Be grateful if neither of you said anything to Hogwarts about this. I'm not exactly allowed to do magic, I kept my wand pieces in this umbrella. I'm allowed to do a lil bit of magic for this trip but—"

"Why aren't you allowed to do magic?" Harry asked curiously.

"Um I sort of got expelled—"

"Why were you—?" Jace started.

"You know it's getting late why don' yeh both get to sleep. Here," he threw them his jacket which seemed to wriggle a bit when Jace caught it. "You can kip under this, don' mind if it moves a bit. That's normal."


End file.
